November 2020 Newsletter

We are pleased to share with you our November Newsletter, recapping life at Fulford Academy since the beginning of the school year.

A MESSAGE FROM:

Head of School, Mr. Scott Murray

Like many communities across Canada, Brockville has been staggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to impacts on citizens’ physical and mental health, businesses have suffered as well due to the pandemic’s effect on the economy. Fulford Academy has not been immune to this. We have had a very difficult 6 months. We have had to say goodbye to a number of people and have many students unable to join or rejoin us.

Traditionally, Fulford Academy has welcomed a high volume of international students to our campus, but COVID-19 has rendered this impossible. This has kept many of our students overseas and those who could join us have been anxious about their safety and the safety of their friends and families.

It’s not all doom and gloom though. This crisis has been a challenge, but our staff and students have risen to that challenge. In order to meet the ever-growing needs of our students, staff, and greater Fulford community, we have invested a considerable amount into our new COVID safety protocols – including PPE, cleaning materials, safety equipment. Fulford has also invested in technological tools to provide online education for our students so that their learning can continue. We strive to give all of our students the best learning opportunities that they can have, whether they are with us in person, or joining in our synchronous online program.

As per normal, our students have been the lifeblood of the school. The energy that they have brought to the classrooms, either online or in-person has been truly inspiring. None of us have ever had to endure what these students have had to deal with during our education. Ever! I am in awe at the level of energy and positivity that our students have been displaying. I want to say a sincere thank you to all of our kids and know that we have bright days ahead. 


A RECAP FROM:

Dean of Students, Mr. Devin Payne

Our new school year has been off and running for 2 months now. Although the new year feels and looks a little differently than the last few years we are all very excited and happy with our current student body and how open they have been to new rules, processes, and protocols. Our students have graciously accepted the new protocols of wearing masks, sanitizing frequently, and social distancing when possible. As a staff, we are very encouraged by how well our young students have adapted to the new ways of life at Fulford Academy. While weekend life has been a little different, with fewer weekend trips out of town, our students have taken it in stride to be more active locally. Some great examples of these new activities have been outdoor games at the dorm, nature hikes in some of Brockville local wildlife preserves, and social trips downtown to local businesses. Perhaps the most dramatic change for the students has been the move into our new dormitory located 800 metres from the school building. Changing your living habits is never easy, so returning students should be commended on their openness to the new living space. Many students have enjoyed the proximity of the dorm to the school building, enjoying morning walks to school or evening walks back to the dormitory. We are very thankful to our students who have been flexible and willing to adapt to this new environment and are excited for the months to come!


ADMISSIONS UPDATE

“Thank you” to all of our families!

With each new school year at Fulford Academy comes a sense of joy, excitement, and positive energy. Sprinkle in a few interesting curveballs and the start of the 2020-2021 school year has been no exception! The implementation of new health protocols and routines in and out of the classroom, as well as the introduction of our new dormitory, has only contributed to the overall experience for our students. We would be remiss not to recognize the flexibility and commitment our families have already demonstrated to make this school year one to remember.

It has been wonderful to not only see the return of many familiar faces but to welcome and celebrate the addition of so many new students to the Fulford family. Across the scope of all our programs, Fulford Academy is pleased to welcome students from over 20 nationalities making our teaching and learning community as vibrant and diverse as ever. With the recent amendment to Canadian travel restrictions for international students, we look forward to the imminent arrival of even more new, and returning students! 

November is going to be a busy month for the Admission and Recruitment department at Fulford Academy as we prepare for the second semester. Please be on the lookout for the following announcements from our team:

  • Midterm Student and Parent survey – Your feedback is invaluable!  
  • Re-Enrollment for:
    • Synchronous Online students, 2nd semester, 2020-2021
    • Boarding students, academic school year, 2021-2022

As always, please never hesitate to connect with our Team as we will be happy to assist you.

November Newsletter Entry Written by: Mr. Joudoin


ADMISSIONS UPDATE

Synchronous Online Education

Fulford Academy has been thrilled with the response it has received towards its synchronous online program to start this 2020-2021 academic school year. With online students from 20 different countries enrolled from Grades 6-12, Fulford’s whole-school learning environment has been positively enriched. The impressive attendance and contributions from our online community have taken the learning experience at Fulford Academy to a whole new level!

Recently, Fulford Academy equipped itself with new cameras that have been installed in every classroom throughout the school. Meant to improve the learning experience for our synchronous online learners, these cameras provide a broader perspective of the classroom – the purpose of these cameras is to help make the online learner feel like they are sitting in the classroom amongst the rest of our in-person students. Furthermore, Fulford Academy teachers will be wearing microphone lapels in order to provide a quality sound experience for our online learners. We hope these additions will help our online learners to feel even more engaged with their teachers and classmates!

Second-semester registration for Fulford’s synchronous online program will be taking place in the month of November so be on the lookout for a message from the Admission Team!

November Newsletter Entry Written by: Mr. Joudoin


GUIDANCE UPDATE

A Focus on Virtual Recruitment

The new year has brought new challenges for students wishing to pursue post-secondary studies. It has also brought new opportunities for many students both in class and online. This year’s recruitment processes look somewhat different as many schools have moved their school visits to the virtual world. This has allowed students from all over to attend the informational events. While the way students are getting the information is different, the general application process has remained the same as students from all over are working towards completing their high school requirements. For some of our students, conditional early offers could be coming towards the end of the month. Deadlines for applications are in January, while most offers will be released in May.

Applications are already well underway as students apply for schools in Canada, the US, and overseas.

November Newsletter Entry Written by: Mrs. MacMillan


STEM+A IN THE CLASSROOM

Project-based, cross-curricular learning

As the 2020-21 school year began, students at Fulford Academy got to know each other through a series of STEM+A activities designed and administered by Ms. Melissa Best. These icebreaker activities centered around the theme of space exploration and provided an introduction to project-based and cross-curricular learning. Working in their residential House teams, students were tasked with building projectile launchers, bridges that could support objects many times their weight, and insulated habitats that could maintain a constant temperature in harsh environments.

Although this school year has been challenging thus far, teachers are also exploring new technologies and software that will provide Fulford students, both in-person and online, with the best educational experience possible. Students across the globe are able to participate in lessons and group projects thanks to innovative new approaches and gain a firsthand understanding of technological advancements that will shape our future.

November Newsletter Entry Written by: Mr. Ryan


STUDENT LEADERSHIP

Announcing the 2020-2021 Student Prefects

We have a proud tradition of leadership here at Fulford Academy and this year we will be relying on our student leaders to be resourceful and positive as our students face the challenges of learning during this time. We had an extremely talented group of applicants this year and Greg Lehman and I had some difficult decisions to make. 

We are proud to introduce to you the Fulford Academy Prefects of 2020-2021:

Emilia Benoit
Breanna Castillo
Lizzy Musset
Mone Tsuruka 
Alexia Morales Tress
Pete Kaewdaungtien
Kenn Wu
Sasha Gerstenekel

Our Online Student Ambassadors are:

Francoise Biaou
Salma Alhawamdeh
SoYoon Baek
Jesse House

This year the Prefects will be focusing on learning more about positive leadership through our regular Prefect meetings and working to employ those skills as they help to develop the connections between members in our Fulford Academy community. Prefects at the dorm will be working to plan floor events to help students not feel so alone even though we need to still keep our distance. At the school, we hope to continue the tradition of Monthly “Spirit Days” to foster some good-natured rivalry between our Houses. We have appointed several Online Student ambassadors as well and it is our hope that these ambassadors will be able to plan some social events for our online student community to help them feel more connected to each other and to the school. 

We are excited to see what this very talented group of leaders can accomplish this year. Congratulations to our new Prefects!

November Newsletter Entry Written by: Mrs. Murray


RESIDENTIAL/STUDENT LIFE

A focus on community

The Student Life program is dedicated to the mental health and overall wellbeing of our students. This year we are focusing on our community and breaking the social barriers thereby ensuring a sense of belonging. During the Fall semester, Fulford is offering a multitude of student activities. Sadly due to the pandemic, we are unable to offer certain services as we work to protect our students.  All activities that Fulford Academy is offering this semester are run and or supervised by our diligent team, who are working hard to ensure that everyone is involved in school events

We currently offer internal programming on weekends which include Movie nights, Sign outs, and occasional local trips. Movie nights occur every Friday night, one of our Head Residential Advisors sends all students a list of movies that they can vote for. The winning movie is them played in the co-ed common room.  As always Fulford is allowing our students to sign out as long as they follow the proper safety measures enforced by the city of Brockville. This decision is evaluated often as things change in our local area. When we offer local trips it is usually dependent on the weather conditions. This year students have really enjoyed going apple picking and hiking in our community.  This year we are at a new dormitory with a large parking lot, this allows our students to play games such as volleyball or badminton at the dorm. This semester volleyball has been a huge success, many students are enjoying the time outside and everyone is invited to participate. 

November Newsletter Entry Written by: Greg Lehman and Jaime Burt

November 2020 Newsletter
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